The English golden retriever lived up to the name of his kind and duly fetched the stranded baby and pulled it all the way onto the sand, protectively lying down next to it.

“And then he started nudging it, and started pulling it to make sure it was gonna be ok I guess,” Freeley explained.

The dog dad called rescuers, but when they arrived the poor thing was frightened back into the water, possibly by the dogs. Freeley said that “this time it went out even further,” so he and Frank Floridia of Strong Island Rescue waded out in the water to save it together.

Tension filled the air for the eight minutes it took for them to get a rope around the fawn and reel it in. Floridia says much of the credit belongs to his partner, Erica Kutzing, who ran about a mile on the beach to help with the rescue and carried the ailing animal to their van.

The baby was loaded with ticks and had sustained an eye injury, but is now being cared for at a local rescue group until it is well enough to be released back into the wild.

studied English and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a focus on animal behavior, neuropsychology, and psychotherapy. She shares two pit bulls (adopted from the SPCA Serving Erie County) with her family, as well as three adopted cats with her husband, Fred. She takes pride in being a grammar enthusiast and advocating for animals, the environment, equal rights, and humanitarianism. She loves camping, cooking, taking photos, listening to psychedelic rock and indie music, and making all sorts of crafty things – from charm bracelets and paper rose bouquets to kitty condos and feral cat houses!

Melanie was sharing this profile with Fred, who is new to the Life With Dogs family, so many stories that were written by Fred from April 2014 – June 2014 will appear under Melanie’s name.

1 thought on “Heroic Dog Pulls a Drowning Baby Deer Out of the Water”

First of all Storm and Sara have an amazing wonderful dad that trained them with love. Thank goodness for people who love thier dogs and other animals. Storm is a beautiful beautiful loving dog that was trying to save another life. I couldn’t stop my tears of joy. Good boy Stormmy.